Japan’s 1,150-HP Hypercar Aims For Nurburgring Record

Aspark is confident its electric hypercar can beat the current EV lap record set by the Nio EP9.

It’s been a while since there have been any developments to report on Japan’s crazy electric hypercar, the oddly-named Aspark Owl. The company claims it will be the fastest accelerating car on earth thanks to four electric motors producing a combined 1,150 hp and 652 lb-ft of torque.

With such lofty claims, it perhaps isn’t surprising to learn that Aspark has its sights on the Nurburgring lap record crown. "[The] Aspark Owl performances are allowing us to aim [for] the Nurburgring record,” an Aspark spokesperson told Top Gear. Currently, the 1,341-hp Nio EP9 holds the EV lap record at the ‘Ring with a time of six minutes and 45.9, but Aspark was keen to point out that it’s a track-only car. The Owl, on the other hand, is road-legal, although Aspark is considering developing a track-only version "if the market requires.”

Thanks to its all-carbon body and carbon fiber monocoque, Aspark claims the Owl will only weigh 3,218 pounds, which could make it nimble enough to navigate the 13-mile long circuit in record time.

Despite this, Aspark is confident it will ship all 50 units of the planned production run. Setting a new Nurburgring lap record would certainly help generate the publicity Aspark needs right now to sell all 50 cars planned for production. Whether the Aspark Owl lives up to expectations remains to be seen, but it will face some stiff competition in the electric hypercar segment against the Rimac C_Two and Pininfarina PF0.